


To Stop the World

by GothicLolita009



Series: The Snape/Delaney Exchange Diary [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-26
Updated: 2010-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-14 18:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothicLolita009/pseuds/GothicLolita009
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU set during first part of DH. Snape is on night patrol, and runs into an unexpected guest. Some fluff. Snape/OFC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Stop the World

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All aspects of the original Harry Potter series belong to J.K Rowling, Warners Bros., etc. It is being used without permission or intent to copyright. It's all in good fun! ^_^.

Severus Snape had, without doubt, earned the title of "Resident Night Owl," from the faculty of Hogwart's School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had also by the same token, earned the title of, "a great bat," from the students, and of this one he was less than fond. He preferred the wiser, more elegant of the two nocturnal creatures; the owl with its skill and precision, its danger concealed until the proper moment.

His black, archaic robes flowed around him as he meandered about the school, seeking out troublemakers with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which wasn't all that much. Beginning with the dungeons, he worked his way upward, heading toward the Astronomy Tower. Sure, he could have had the Carrows or anyone of his choice do the nightly patrols, but even as Headmaster, he preferred the quiet and solitude it offered.

The tower where Dumbledore had been—where he had murdered the Headmaster, a friend and confidant for many years, was quiet this night. There weren't many lessons drawn at Hogwarts anymore, what with the DA and the underground resistance to the Dark Lord, Voldemort, staging their own version of the French 'sabotage.'

A flash of light from down a small but barely used hall caught his sharp eye, and he immediately went toward it, seeing a door that was slightly open.

'Ah,' he thought, 'a little weasel attempting to be clever.' He smirked in triumph at the thought of catching this miscreant and giving them a month's detention scrubbing out bedpans in the hospital wing. Without magic.

So as to not disturb the offender, or offenders as the case may be, he moved with a feline's precision. Snape's hand soon closed around the door, flinging it open soundlessly, his wand at the ready

The sight made him raise his brow for a long moment. The thrill of the chase gone, Snape sighed and put his wand back into his robes.

It was not a student, or even a professor, in the most current sense of the word. A river of long, straight, ebony hair was all he needed to see. He entered the room, closing the door behind him. Pushing away a chunk of hair from the obscured features, he saw what he expected to see; the pale, sleeping face of Mika Delaney.

The former Ancient Runes professor and assistant librarian was curled atop the blanket in a half-fetal position, her skilled musician's hands resting near her angular face and pretty mouth. She shivered slightly from the cold; her clothing looked ill-used. Her coat, bunched up underneath her head for a pillow, would have served her better around her.

'Silly girl,' thought Severus as he watched her sleep. He wondered briefly how she had managed to closet herself here, within what might be the very bosom of those who were now, for all intents and purposes, enemies of everything she held dear. Hogwarts had its own secrets, and the tiny room he now found himself in was apparently no exception.

The room itself was, at best, sparsely furnished and Spartan in its decoration. A tiny desk, crowded with some scraps of notes and papers and a map. The candles which had drawn his attention to this most convenient of hiding places to begin with were beginning to burn low in their holders. A well-stuffed mattress of hay rested atop a small bed frame, where Mika now took her repose. The stool Severus had taken residence atop was, at best, passable. A small basket with a brown jug and the remnants of a meal rested in the corner by the tiny window.

It was designed to be a hide-out, a place where one could see without being seen. It was a tiny hub of information. Snape had no doubt his master would be interested in this little hidey-hole and the word Mika was passing along to the outside.

However, his eyes drifted back, inevitably, to the woman who slept so peacefully, unaware completely of the danger she was in. Or, more likely, thought Severus, she knew and did not care.

Snape blew out the candles, conjuring up a new one and lighting it, examining the sleeping face of his teenage friend by its light. He conjured a blanket as well, wrapping it about her. Honestly, she'd catch her death like that. And while it was not in his nature to play the rescuing Prince, he supposed he'd rather not have her on his conscience.

Clearly these last few months had not been kind to her, if her blotchy skin and current residence were any indicators. She looked painfully thin, and the dark circles under her eyes were prominent even under the dim candlelight, giving her an undead look.

Memories of an afternoon June returned to him in a rush as he reached out to run his hand over Mika's tangled hair. He closed his eyes, allowing those memories to flood his mind.

_He had been looking for Dumbledore, and had been told that he would find him atop the very tower in which they now resided._

_However, a heated conversation was already in progress when Snape ascended the stairs._

_"-has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that for once, I might actually be scared for him this time?" a woman was saying, her tone seething with controlled rage._

_"Whether it has or hasn't is irrelevant," replied Dumbledore with that calmness that often infuriated Snape himself, "I will not negotiate with you, Mika. Severus agreed. There is nothing more to discuss."_

_The mention of his name made Snape's eyebrow raise quizzically. So they were talking about him...about, no doubt, the terrible deed which he had agreed to perform, not once but twice. Once to the very man who was speaking to her now, and the other to placate the wife of a man whom he called, 'friend,' in the loosest sense of the word._

_Since their school days, Mika had been a willing shield and defender for him...all except one time, one day, that one terrible day...and he could hear her attempting to shield him now._

_"Albus, you promised me!"_

_Mika was truly angry now...and to refer to Dumbledore by his first name, whether they were adults or no, was something she had not ever done in Snape's long memory of their time together. Tears were seeping into her eyes and voice._

_"And I will honor that promise, Mika—you must trust me," replied Dumbledore gently, and it was here that Snape allowed himself a glance at the pair._

_He had come close enough to touch her, and gently dabbed at her tears with the sleeve of his robe, while she looked up at him with anguish. It appeared Dumbledore had missed his calling, thought Snape with a tinge of amusement; comforting father figure was not a role to which the Headmaster was unsuited._

_"Mika—you have work to do," said Dumbledore, with a slight edge to his voice, the comforting father turning strict._

_With one last sniffle and a nod, Mika turned with a look of utter defeat at the stairs, and began to descend, her grey-blue eyes coming up to see Severus Snape standing there, arms folded, looking through her._

_With a pained look, she stopped and stared at him. The momentary glance they shared spoke volumes. Snape opened his mouth, to speak her name, but she waved a dismissive hand and continued down the stairs._

_Later that night, Severus stared up at the gathering storm clouds...the gathering darkness that was threatening to overwhelm them all. The moon passed through his field of vision, as he looked to heaven for the forgiveness that he would need._

_The door opened and closed. A familiar, female step. Light, skilled hands on his shoulder, a dark head resting on his right shoulder blade._

_"I love you,"said Mika, "stupid as it may be, I love you. I always have, and I always will."_

_That declaration was no less heartfelt than when she had admitted it in their fifth year, but this time, there was no ballroom to drag her from. Gently shrugging off her hands, he turned to face her. Her eyes were red and bleary, the former from crying and the latter from drink._

_"Liquor doesn't become you," he said simply, going over to a cabinet and pulling out a small vial. He added three drops to a cup of tea, and gave it to her. She drank without question, and after a few moments looked more like herself._

_"I can't change how I feel," she said, "like I said—stupid. Thanks."_

_And she put the cup an saucer down, turning for the door._

_In that moment, Snape had a choice. And it would really be his last chance before everything went to proverbial hell. Mika had again offered up her heart, her small body, her entire being to be done with as he wished._

_History could repeat itself. He could deny that warm regard which he had come to possess for the charming and soft-spoken girl. The feeling turned his stomach, as if it were physically disagreeable. Yet it would not be denied anymore. Unless he rejected her again. This was one thing he could do._

_Or he could stop the world._

_In a move quick as lightning, Snape dashed for her, grabbing her hand, and pulling her back into his arms. For a moment, their breath mingled, and Snape was aware of the sweet, musky smell of her perfume. He looked at her a moment before before dropping his careful control, and two pairs of orbicularis oris commenced their contracting._

_In other words, he kissed her. Greedily. And she kissed back._

_He chose to stop the world._

Mika stirred in her sleep, and for a moment Severus was temped to cast a charm over himself so he would not be seen. But she did not awaken, and he continued his watching, back in the memory of their few stolen hours.

_'I don't need or want an Unbreakable Vow, Severus,' said Mika earnestly, 'I...oh...you know!'_

_'I do,' he replied in a half-whisper._

_'Exactly!' replied Mika, and the corner of his mouth twitched at her flustered look._

_The ceremony had been quick, witnessed by a street walker Mika had found that looked hungry. For the promise of food, she set her name to their license of marriage._

_The ring was still on her wedding finger, unnoticed by most, but not the man she now called husband._

_The rest of it had been complicated to say the least. Using the smallest but most reliable owl he could find, Snape sent Mika the vaguest of coded messages. He had to admit his surprise when she turned up, at midnight, just where he was to meet her._

_She was in black, mourning Dumbledore as all the magical world did to some degree or another. Except of course for the Death Eaters._

_"I intend to arrange a safe place for you," he said as soon as they had settled into their tiny, leaky cottage by the sea, "the gauntlets have been thrown down, and in truth, you would be more useful as the Order's shadow than mine. The war is here now, Mika."_

_"I think we can keep the world stopped just a touch longer," she pouted adorably, her hand tracing lazy patterns along his chest, "let's keep the world stopped forever—can we, Severus?"_

_"That, as you well know, is impossible," he said, gently chiding her childish thought._

_And yet, he wished they could stop the world forever too._

_"And to think," said Severus as he stroked her feather-light hair, "we have a...cookie...to thank for..."_

_He gestured at the both of them, knowing she would understand. Mika's attempt to keep from laughing failed miserably, and she soon collapsed in a heap against her husband in uncontrolled mirth._

_When she looked back up at him, her eyes glittered, and that pleading look was on her beautiful face. She turned so she was on hands and knees, kneeling between his outstretched legs._

_"Can't we keep the world stopped?" she asked him, "just a little longer?"_

_"If it were in my power, I would," he said gently, reaching out and placing a lock of hair behind her ear, "because when you make that face—it is hard to deny you anything."_

_He took her in his arms, holding her roughly, and refused to set the world back in motion. She was warm and soft and played him like a violin. He too was warm, but harder, and he plied her as skillfully as his potions instruments._

_With the mid-morning sun, the world had been stopped long enough. Mika held onto him tightly, but he gently disengaged himself from her, keeping his back to her, knowing if he looked into her beautiful face, the strength of their bond would keep him there, in their unmoving state. He could not, and would not allow that to happen._

_"They're going to wonder where I am soon," he said, "the world, I'm afraid, has been halted long enough," he said, pausing a moment, searching for the proper words, "I am not known for—sentimentality, but I may not get another chance, so I will say this only once; I love you, Mika. More than you know."_

_He felt her slender but strong arms go around his neck from behind, and they shared a final kiss._

And now—as he watched Mika sleep, there was nothing he wanted more than to stop the world again, and climb into that bed with her.

She stirred again, her eyes fluttering open, turning to lay on her back and stretch her limbs. She turned, gave a start at first, but her face softened into a smile when she saw who it was that was watching her sleep.

"How long have you been here?" she asked him, shifting on the bed to make what little room she could.

"Long enough," he said as he lay down beside her, "to remember what it was like to stop the world."


End file.
